English literary critic Matthew Arnold is portrayed in a three-quarter seated bust CDV by Elliott & Fry, 55 Baker Street, Portman Square, London, the front mount identifying the subject with the printed line Mr. Matthew Arnold alongside the studio's copyright credit. Arnold appears in middle age, seated and turned slightly to his left, wearing a dark coat and waistcoat with a white shirt and tie, a watch chain visible at his chest. His expression is thoughtful and direct, his hair neatly combed back, and a slight downward cast to his gaze gives the image a reflective quality.

Elliott & Fry at 55 Baker Street was among the most prominent London portrait studios of the 1860s through 1880s, holding a royal warrant and producing authorized portrait series of leading British intellectual and literary figures. The typeset identification on the front mount and the copyright designation confirm this was a commercially distributed celebrity portrait.

Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) was the preeminent English literary critic of the Victorian era and a poet of enduring influence, son of the educator Thomas Arnold of Rugby. His critical works Culture and Anarchy (1869) and Essays in Criticism shaped the intellectual discourse of Victorian England and the subsequent development of English literary studies. As a poet he is best known for Dover Beach, The Scholar-Gipsy, and Thyrsis. He served as Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools for over thirty-five years, championing educational reform and the role of culture in democratic society.

The reverse bears a penciled inscription reading Matthew Arnold with the Elliott & Fry studio imprint and dealer code 3/30/09 / COLBXZ / Eb.